Okay I’m sure you’ve heard someone say, “Stop fishing for information!” right? Phishing similar in a way, in that the scammer tries certain things to get you the unsuspecting consumer to give him OR her your details e.g. your online banking username & password.
Once they have this information, expect to receive a whole lotta SMS’s from your bank as your bank balance diminishes by the second.
Now there is a whole lot that can be written to explain phishing scams in detail but this video does a much better job on video.
video source: Common Craft
Do post your thoughts on phishing by commenting below.
Back in 2006, the Bank Enquiry Panel was established by the Competition Commission to look into bank fees / charges and give some recommendations. You should be pleased to hear / read that the tedious work has now been completed and the report is out, read Statement on Banking Enquiry Report by the Competition Commission.
If you, like me, have been wondering what this is all about and what sort of recommendation they’ll come up with you might want to read the Executive Overview released by the Competition Commission. OR you could read the rest of this article for points I found interesting while reading.
What is the Banking Enquiry about?
The important thing to note about the enquiry is that it is meant to initiate and inform a debate promoting accessible, affordable and good quality banking services.
The report will provide us with a number of proposals, which government is committed to consider when drafting policy for the competition commission as a response.
The Banking Enquiry report is intended to advise the Competition Commissioner on competition issues in retail banking in South Africa.
Right, now let’s look at some of the interesting recommendations shall we?
Debit Orders
A max of R5 per dishonoured item like bounced debit-orders. However if a bank incurs additional expenses because of your defaulting can close your account and/or sue you for the damages. See recommendation no. 1.
Consumers should be allowed to cancel any direct debit instruction at any time by phone, internet, or over the counter at a branch (subject to written confirmation by the customer where necessary). But you would still need to pay those debtors! See recommendation no. 2.
ATM Charges
The owner of the ATM you withdraw from must set their own charge for dispensing he cash. It is called “direct charging model”, woooo! See recommendation no. 3.
In such a case where you withdraw from a different ATM other than your bank. Your bank will have to charge you separately and directly for an “off-us” service charge. See recommendation no. 4.
Oh banks shouldn’t be allowed to discriminate and charge other banks’ customers more for the cash despising service. See recommendation no. 5.
Switching made easy!
There should be a centralised banking fee calculator service. You would be able to input your requirements once and get an objective indication of which bank can help you and the charges. This will ease comparative shopping indeed! See recommendation no. 23.
Banks should also be allowed to advertise comparing their offering, including price, to competitors’. See recommendation no. 24.
When you switch accounts, your bank should provide the new bank with information on standing orders and direct debits within a specified period of time of receiving the request to do so. Furthermore your bank should specify how the balance on the account, standing orders and direct debits, net of any charges and interest but including any interest due, will be transferred from the old bank directly to the new bank, and how and when the account with the old bank will be closed. See recommendation no. 26.
The bane of our lives, FICA!
The national treasury should investigating establishment of a central FICA hub. This would help us all and spare us the duplication that goes on. See recommendation no. 27.
What’s Next?
The Commissioner will now consider the report and consult with various stakeholders and government departments before making decisions regarding any further action arising from the report.
Humblest apologies for not posting for a while to readers old and new! I thought to share this nugget with you of a good interview on what the NCA brought for consumers. This was shot last year (2007) but very relevant.
I would love to hear your opinion / view of things now that we are well into the NCA. Do post you comments below.
My fellow South Africa dwellers it looks like we are approaching a 5 year-peak in interest rate charges next month. What makes this particularly noteworthy (incase you were not bothered) is the fact that the repo rate may go up by 2% in one go.
To put things into perspective. If you bought a house for R500, 000 back in 2006 around July and the bank gave you an interest rate of 10.5% (i.e. the prime lending rate then), and you took the bond over 20years then you would have been paying the bank R4,991.90 per month.
So two years later, Today, you are paying the same bond but alas, the prime lending rate is 15% which means that you are paying R6,583.9. This is a whole R1,592.05 every month extra that you did not foresee. And petrol? food?
But wait for the punch-line! If things go as Tito Mboweni stated while talking to Bloomberg we are going to receive an early Youth day present of 2% hike. This means the repayments for the same bond will now be R7,334.00.
In English, this means in a month and a bit’s time you will be R750 poorer and R2342.1 from when you bought this house two years ago.
An interesting development, the Bankers Association of South Africa, Consumer Credit Association, Furniture Trading Association and the Micro Finance South Africa are planning to register a company that will assist consumers who cannot meet their financial obligations to restructure their debt.
It would seem the main players in credit have realized that consumers do need assistance, but not only that. I would assume the spinoff is that consumers will continue to pay their restructured debts which means lesser debts to write off and a degree of legal cost saving in summons and debt collection initiatives.
In a recent comment post a reader posed some questions which I thought would benefit more readers as an article. So here goes…
Q) What do credit grantors use credit bureau reports for when you apply for credit?
A) When you apply for credit, the credit grantor uses your credit report to verify your identity as well as to assess their risk.
Q) What information is supplied to the credit bureau?
A) when ever an inquiry is made on your credit report a reason for enquiry is supplied by the credit grantor, the credit bureau also records that an enquiry was made and the credit provider in question. This information is shown on your credit report under the enquiry history section.
Q) Are all inquiries recorded by credit bureaus?
A) Not all enquiries are recorded by credit bureaus. Inquiries for forensic purposes are hidden, naturally.
Now that Jacob Zuma has won the top seat of the ANC, the big question for me is how he will influence change to benefit the working class. Let us look at the consumer implications rather than the broader subject shall we?
No doubt the man is seen as thee person by the working class, hence support from the trade union COSATU. The other point is, as reported on iol:
Unlike Mbeki, Zuma has risen through the ranks without family connection, becoming part of the ANC’s second-highest decision-making body 30 years ago.
If these things are anything to go by, could one presume that Jacob Zuma will influence an interest rate decrease? Since it is the working class who are being burnt the most. [interjection: Wealthier people benefit from investments since the interest gained increases, earning them a few more Rands].
I think this is one flipside that could prove positive indeed.
A penny for your thoughts? We can’t wait to read your comments, click here to post.
So many people ask this question: “What does it mean to be blacklisted?”
Blacklisting is a term used within the credit industry (banks, retail stores, etc) to report anyone who does not pay their debts (including companies). Emphasis on not paying as opposed to skipping one or two payments!
This is done with the hope that that person will one day require credit and the credit grantor they approach will then do a credit report check (sometimes referred to as an ITC check) with a credit bureau on the subject. On that report will be personal details, employment details and credit behaviour. Click here to continue reading ‘The meaning of being blacklisted.’
While it does feel great this time of the year. With so much buzz around with everyone running around to get Christmas gifts, finalise holiday preparations or stock up to entertain and feed visitors. I feel we should remember our situation here in South Africa with regards to over indebtedness, overspending, savings (or lack there of) and the fact that we recently had interests go up by another half a percent just last week.
So what I think we should do is first think of our January 2008 commitments before we spend the little we have. Ensure we have enough money to meet those much needed expenses like school fees, groceries, etc. Then let us think about the saving.
Let us look at saving in two ways. (1) Being how much of that bonus you can invest and (2) being actually paying more than you need to for your current debt since you would be saving on interest. This of the second as a future saving or a cash flow management strategy since you may even reduce your monthly payments in some cases.
And worse if you do not have cash try not to give into those “buy now pay later” schemes if you can. Remember a bargain is no bargain if you do not have the money for it, even worse when you won’t be able to meet the repayments next year.
It really is a double whammy kind of situation for consumers getting that bond approved these days.
As consumers we are feeling the pinch in as far as our financial situation goes trying to meet all those debt obligations. This is getting to the point where even if you had budgeted “correctly” a year ago, you most likely will find yourself in the redline if not over exposed. On the other hand the credit granting law has changed requiring banks to consider “true affordability” and no gestimates when assessing whether to grant a mortgage / home loan.
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